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Little Bailey Skewes ,5, from Cornwall has just had his ultimate Christmas dream come true thanks to Starlight Children’s Foundation – the UK’s leading wish-granting charity for children suffering from serious and terminal illnesses. Brave Bailey’s dearest wish was to meet the real Father Christmas and on Thursday 3rd December, Starlight flew Bailey and his family and 12 other Starlight families all the way to Lapland for a trip of a lifetime.

In Sept 2008 Bailey was diagnosed with leukaemia, an aggressive cancer and was immediately put on chemotherapy! Bailey’s family’s lives were turned upsidedown, as he spent a great deal of time in hospital undergoing grueling treatment to fight his cancer. Last Christmas Bailey was in hospital, so this year Bailey’s family wanted to give him something special to look forward to. As soon as the wish-granting fairy’s at Starlight Children’s Foundation heard about brave Bailey and everything he has been through they immediately set about making his dearest wish to meet Santa come true!

The magical trip to Lapland for Bailey and all the other families spent four days at the home of Father Christmas. Staying in beautiful log cabins nestled in the gorgeous arctic wilderness, complete with their own sledges and buckets of snow! First for Bailey was a ride on a reindeer sleigh to look for Santa in the forest! After having lots of fun, playing with baby huskies, fast and furious husky sledge rides across the undulating planes and ice fishing Bailey found himself outside the grotto to meet Santa himself, who had taken time out from packing Christmas presents with the elves to meet all the Starlight children…

Bailey’s mum Stacey told Starlight:

” We all had a brilliant time! Thank you so much Starlight for giving Bailey and all of us a chance to do something he would never been able to do before. This has made his Christmas, in fact it’s made his whole year. It was so much fun, good to spend time all together and see Bailey so happy after everything he’s been through”

“It was just an amazing magical experience; I cannot express what a wonderful time all the children had with their families. The look on their faces when they saw Santa was priceless! It was fantastic to see children who had been through so much having the time of their lives! Starlight is delighted to be able to offer children like this a wish of a lifetime! It’s very nearly Christmas and we have exceeded even our own expectations and will have granted more than 500 wishes by the end of the year.”

Starlight are delighted to have been able to give Bailey the opportunity to put the last year behind him and give him and his family some very happy memories.

Starlight also creates entertainment in every hospital and hospice throughout the UK. Sick children go to Starlight parties, laugh their way through pantomimes, go out on Starlight Escapes, play games and watch films on the Starlight Fun Centre, and enjoy the toys and puzzles of the Starlight Distraction Box. Happy children respond better to treatment and Starlight helps children to forget about their illness and simply have a bit of fun.

You can make a donation online or by calling us on 020 7262 2881. For every £1 you donate, Starlight can assure you that 88p goes towards helping very ill children. To refer a child for a wish, simply complete our wish referral form.